Picture Stories

Sunday, 9 February 2014

Clive Brittain - The Smiling Pioneer

Taking a closer look at Clive Brittain's timeline:

"Owners, jockeys and journalists, who have always found the master of Carlburg amongst the most approachable of people, have always been encouraged to

'Call me Clive' and throughout this book I have stuck to this habit. It is 'Clive' , not 'Brittain' , you will meet in these pages. "

Introduction

"Are you there, baby?' 'Hello big girl, are you waiting for me?' 'Good boy ... oh yes' 'There's nothing to be frightened of'' ... 'Hello young lady, are you there for me?'

"Want to see a man doing what he was destined to do, doing what he is totally absorbed and happy doing? Watch Clive Brittain with his horses at Carlburg Stables, Bury Road, Newmarket. "

Racehorses respond directly to a person's voice and gestures. The tone of the voice especially.Opening communication and understanding channels on all levels.Magic.

CHAPTER ONE

A Horseman's beginning

"Some of theother kids on the estate would try it and then chicken out but I was determined ... "

Clivestarted work as an apprentice with Sir Noel Murless. pages 17 - 21

"Calne, Wiltshire. The little scrap who arrived on December 15 1933 and who lived his early years at 9, Priestley Grove, Calne, enjoyed a family life typical of the countryside at the time: busy, companionably and shorn of luxury, although the big family usually managed, somehow or other, to make ends meet. "

How Clive communicated with a bunch of wild ponies, and took a few jobs to bring in some pocket money.

At the end of 1948 Clive went to see Herbert Blagrave for a job. He was a private trainer and he already had an apprentice. This was about the end of 1948 and he was full up. He said, "Try Noel Murless down the road" .

I saw the stable secretary first, a Mr Cotterill, a great old character. He looked at me and said, "You'll be too big" , and more or less turned me away. But I was never one for being turned away and so I waited until Sir Noel came out. I said that MrBlagravehad sent me and that I wanted a job as an apprentice jockey and he took me on for a month's trial. "

"It was a moment that determined the shape of Clive's life. The month's trial developed into a relationship of mutual respect that was to last, apart from Clive's two years of National Service in the Army, for the next 23 years. Until Sir Noel Murless began thinking of retirement and Clive set up on his own, he spent those 23 years handling some of the best animals in the country, horses like Petite Etoile, and Crepello, Aurelius and St Paddy, Royal Palace and Busted. And if that was why Clive later knew how to get the best out of the best when he handled Classic contenders at Carlburg, he made his own contribution too in the Murless yard, dealing with the awkward squad.

Mystiko and Tony

a true bond of trust

CHAPTER TWO

The Murless Years

1950 - 1972

"If you didn't say 'Good morning' you would get a boot up your arse. And if it wasn't a good morning you'd get a boot up the arse for saying so. " Mick Leaman, fellow Murless apprentice "

Clive moved from Beckhampton to Newmarket with Sir Noel Murless and all his horses, the lot in one massive move, pages 23 - 38.

Key Fact

"Clive served his 7 year apprenticeship with Sir Noel Murless

plus a further 16 years.

Clive was in the right place with the right man for 23 years.

"They were different times. In 23 years with Sir Noel Murless, as the great trainer was to become (he acquired his knighthood after Clive had left to set up on his own) Clive Brittain was never addressed as 'Clive' or even by his surname. When he spoke to him, Murless called him Calne because Calne in Wiltshire was was where Clive came from. It was ' Calne, take this one back to the yard' or 'Calne, drop in behind and move upsides at the two -furlong marker . It was not a lack of civility on Murless's part - theirs was a relationship built on mutual respect. It was just the way things were in a more forelock-tugging age. And it could have been worse ... there was another lad in the yard who was only ever addressedas 'Skin the Goat'

.

"Sir Noel Murless had just taken over at Beckhampton from Fred Darling and when I first went to Beckhamptonthere were seven horses there who were savages. Red-carded. You weren't allowed to go in with them unless there was someone with you. Withinthree years Sir Noel had changed the system and brought in a more feeling regime. The savage horses disappeared. It was a great lesson. At evening stables they were held with three rack chains. One from the hay net to the head collar and one each side, otherwise they would have ripped you to pieces. There only defence was to bite you or kick you. Sir Noel got rid of those ideas. Seeing the way horses were treated I realised, just as I had with the ponies, that you don't beat them. A lot of the things he did I had already worked out for myself.

"NOEL MURLESS was a great boss to work for and to be absolutely honest we had a very good lifestyle. Maureen was his secretary. I worked in the yards looking after the difficult horses. We has a (rent and rates free) bungalow at Warren Place and we were very happy. It wasn't until Lady Murless started talking about Sir Noel retiring that the idea of training came up at all. After 23 years it was a question of who else could I work for? I knew his mind inside out. I knew him and trusted him and he obviously had great trust in me, although I was never head man. He was a very loyal man and the head men he had did their job. My job was dealing with the awkward horses, riding the awkward ones, breaking the yearlings. We all had our place in the system. '

Sir Noel was a tremendous thinker about the animal's condition and wellbeing and noticed everything. I can remember he would say at evening stables, "Thathorse was very nervous with you this morning" . "We never had a big conversation. He called me "Calne" because that was where I came from. It was an "Evening Calne". "Evening sir" , "yes, sir" kind of relationship. I would say something like "This horse doesn't like going through the trees on the way to the gallop" and it was about getting the horses to the bottom of the gallop with as little stress as possible.

"For lads in those days it was pretty spartan. We lived in big rooms like barracks. In the winter they were running with condensation. There was no heating but you had a bed and clean sheets for the bed once a week.. We were always pretty well fed in the canteen run by MrsBarclay, she was a very kind woman and wegot good wholesome food. "

"Clives's friend and long time feed man Mick Learman, whom he tempted back into racing after 16 years in Clark's shoe factory when he started up, was a good boxer. We tend to forget thev physical stature of many of the lads in stables in those days. Mick won several boxing titles and was beaten in the final one year in the stable lads' championship - an event that was once a mainstay of the racing year but finally petered out at the end of the 1990's, reflecting perhaps not just the growing number of lasses working in yards but an altogether less macho approach in racing yards.

"Mind you , says Mick, it was worse when Fred Darling was still at Beckhampton. He may have six Derby winners "but he was tough with the horses and could be a mean little man, there was a ten o'clock curfew for the lads and if they were in after that he'd be there the other side of the gate waiting for them with a bullwhip. "

"Clive says: " Mick's been my mainstay. The best in Newmarket. I don't have to worry about it. His feedhouse is always absolutely immaculate. He's head and shoulders above anyone else in Newmarket for feeding horses. Nobody could look after a horse better than Mick does. Mind you, he's cost me a fortune. He always wants the best for his horses. "

"Two of the trickier starsClive had to deal with were AURELIUSand ST PADDY,

later the sire of oneof Clive's outstanding international winners. As his protege was later to do with PEBBLES, Murless used geldings as companions and lead horses. The 1960 Derby winner ST PADDY, for example was a tearaway but there was

a secret to dealing with him: "You could hold ST PADDY in a canter if you kept his head on the quarters of a big old mate of his called Sunny Way.ST PADDY's forelegs would go between Sunny Way's back ones. It looked dreadful but they never touched each other. After 100 yards or so of that St Paddy would settle pretty well. But he even ran away with Lester, which took a bit of doing. "

"As for AURELIUS, the 1961 St Leger winner, he was a savage with a capital S. There was no point hitting him. That was how he turned savage in the first place. As was CREPELLO who in his only two outings as a three-year-old in 1957, won the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby "CREPELLO was a tremendous colt, really powerful behind the saddle, which was the reason he eventually broke down. He had an unbelievable blend if speed and stamina, which meant he was never extended at home. I couldn't name a horse today that might have beaten him. Among the fillies Petite Etoile was a tough mare, more like a colt in many ways. She had a strong personality with a bit of atemperament - she broke her lead rein on more than one occasion. I rode a lot of Sir Noel's good horses, most of them probably, and learned a lot about the character of horses. Even now you see a lot of the characteristics from the family lines. For instance, if a CREPELLO throws a wobbly you are forewarned. "

"During my years at Warren Place I never earned more than £17 a week but I set myself an income of £5,000 a year by backing our good horses in top races. We made a decent living - not a fortune but enough always to run a nice car and to have good holidays.

"I was never a big gambler in the BarryHills mode. I set out to win £5,000 a year and stop. I've always believed the lad who has a punt has an interest. It wasn't hurting anybody. You wouldn't do anything to harm or stop a horse. It wasn't in those days a matter of what wasn't going to win but what was going to win. It wouldn't do any damage to the price of the horse. Lads were probably then getting £15 to £20 a week as wages.

"With common sense you couldn't help making money on the post odds.You couldn't help backing winners when you worked for Sir Noel. I always backed horses to win. If I won £200 I would bank £175 and start again with £25. My first rule was never to stake more than I could afford to lose.

"Two I particularlyremember Altesse Royal at 33-1 and Caergwrle at 50-1. We had some very good fillies at the time of Altesse Royal but I always felt she would be the best. She had a lot of nervous energy. She was pacemaker to the others but she never dropped away. It always stuck in my mind that she would be the one. She won the £1,000 Guineasthe year Magic Flute would sit behind Altesse Royale and then come with a run and always looked to be her master. But Altesse Royal never dropped her head. I took 33-1 for the Oaks and I won a few quid. It gave me that bit of a nest egg. It wasn't any huge wodge or anything, it was hundreds rather than thousands. 'Murless horses. I concentrated on their home work. I never thought of myself as a gambler when I backed his horses - more of an investor. They were nearly all good-class animals and they were always trying. I made most of the money in Classic races at anti-post odds. You couldn't help backing winners when you worked for Sir Noel.

CHAPTER THREE

Pegasus Days

"He didn't have any legacy to set him up. He's done it his way and done it from the

bottom. He didn't take anyone's blueprint - he made his own. He follows his instincts. " Willie Carson on Clive.

Clive was 39 years old by then, he was a brilliant kaleidoscope illuminatorfor yearlings

and two-year-olds, bred and prepared each and every one for superstardom on the global, horseracing stage. That is if saved from being frightened to death beforehand by the bloodhorse illiterate...Clive's perspective on starting out as a trainer Clive Sketches' in his focus on a myriad of owners.

"It never sunk in until Lady Murless was talking aboutSir Noel's retirement but then I thought for 23 years he had been a good gov'nor and I couldn't see myself having the same relationship with anybody else.

"We talked about it. I made a few inquiries and found that Pegasus was coming on the market. Jack Watts had moved to train in the north and it had been left empty and deteriorating. I went to see Chris Bakewell, who had it in trust for the family, and we agreed a three-year lease. When we went in, the lofts were full of chickens, the paint waspeeling: the place had been let go.

Clive recalls:

"Willie Carson had moved into a new house at the end of the garden and he introduced me to Mr Gulrajani, an Indian banker with a lot of horses. Willie got him to send me a couple of horses and they were just platers. I started to train them.

"Pandit Gulrajani was the owner of the first winner Clive trained, VEDVYAS at Doncaster just ten days into the new season. There was a field of 25 for the Tuxford Maiden Stakes on April 1st 1972.

"It was a new adventure going to the races with the first horse I thought had a chance. VEDVYAS had been running in sellers the previous year. An apprentice, ROBERT YOUNG, had been riding him at exercise and the horse worked better for him than for other jockeys who rode out for me at the time. I thoughtVEDVYASwould win.I told the kid to ride him like he rode him work and not to pressure him much, not to go for the stick. Afterwards Frankie Durr (who finished third in the race on RIO D'OR) told me what a good race the kid had ridden. He asked if I had told him to sit quiet and when I toldhim I had, he said: If he had moved he would have been beaten.

" VEDVYAS, carrying 8st 7lb, just got up on the line under his apprentice rider ROBERT YOUNG beating MERCHANT OF VENICE, ridden by DUNCAN KIETH. Punters knew very little about C.E. Brittain, Newmarket' and VEDVYASwas allowed to start at 33-1, the first of a series of long-priced winners that were to decorate Clive's career. His winners share of the prize-money was £616.60.

"Ten day's later VEDVYASwon the much more important BP Mile Handicap at Aintree. He turned out to be quite a useful performer and at 50-1 in the35-runner Cambridgeshire at Newmarket on September 30, this time ridden by lightweight DES CULLEN, he was beaten only a head and a nose in a photo- finish behind NEGUS (PHILIP WALDRON) and ROYBRIDGE (MICHAEL KETTLE). That was his best performance. CLIVE says CULLEN,was one of WILLIE CARSON'S most feared riders in a finish.

Clive says "You've got to take the animal into consideration. They don't come out of their boxes every day in the same frame of mind. They (the racehorses) are affected by different ground, by left-handed or right-handed courses, by different distances, and these captains of industry don't always appreciate that.

Fellow trainer Sir Mark Prescott, who took over officially from Jack Waugh at Heath House just two years before the Brittain's opened up at Pegasus Stables, says that, apart from his talents as a horseman , Clive's good nature enables him to cope with owners that other were glad to see leave. 'His speciality was that he could manage difficult 'owners. '

CHAPTER FOUR

Enter Marcos Lemos

"They were dreadful bullies - horrible horrible people. People look back now through rose-tinted glasses and say what great horsemen they were? Well were they? Sir Mark Prescott on Newmarket in 1972.

SIR MARK PRESCOTT HAS THIS TO SAY:

"Newmarket was very different in 1972. It was for many at the lower end of racing a grim and often brutal place. Sir Mark Prescott,a man with a true feelfor his local community, remembers it clearly at Heath House:'Newmarket was a very, very different place then. I started officially in 1970. At that time there were 35 trainers in Newmarket and 850 horsesNow there are 81 trainers and 2,500 horses.(2012) Pages 51 - 61.

"Everywhere was run-down. The owners could no longer afford to keep up the big studs as they had done and until the Arabs came on the scene and re did them they were pretty tired. I was unbelievably lucky to be given the chance to train here but it was all falling down.

Whether it was the war, whether that had something psychologically to do with it of whether it wasentirely financial I don't know but it had a run-down feel about it.Newmarket was tired.

"The lads' accommodation was appalling. They were paid a pittance. Single lads serving a seven year apprenticed then. There were some great horsemen but there was an underclass of those men who were absolutely no good and they were allowed to get away with murder. It took a crisis to change that culture, the stable lads' strike of of 1975.

"The strike was very cathartic. In retrospect it was a ghastly, ghastly time. But it was very goodbecause the owners realised they'd got to pay a proper rate for having horses trained.

"One of the problems was the lack of graduatedwage structure in British racing. In many yards a man with 20 years' experience was getting no more than a 16-year-old starter, so the job tended to attract gamblers and drifters.

That was the Newmarket in whichClive set out as a trainer. But perhaps in those circumstancesthere was some advantage in being a trainer who had spent 23 years as a lad in someone else's yard.

JMC: LONG OUTDATED BRITISH POLITICAL SYSTEM THAT SERVES NO ONE

BRITISH POLITICAL AND HORSERACING GOVERNMENTIMPOSTORS AT LARGE

CLIVE BRITTAIN

1972

Clive had a major task to bring Pegasus House and Stables back to life beforeit was ready to house horses in training at work.

The British impostors political and horseracing government's wooden horses.

BHA do nottake the horses into consideration at all, whilst pretendingto regulate British horseracing The methods they use to run this sport are all aimed to support hefty financial government gain. No matter at whose expense, in secret. Secret laws popped in to cover the tracks of evil past politicians and lawyers.

These governments show this to be the case both in Britain and in India (Richard Hughes) and (Martin Dwyer) both caught up unjustly when riding, competing in India. Made out to be crook's, when they are nothing of the sort. Both proven top global Group 1 horsemen. Treated,punished like criminals. Noted to public apologies

These government parties focus onhorses, cattle,sheep and chicken all reared and slaughterhouse bound. End of story. What sufferanceinflicted upon them whilst they are alive, matters not one jot to any of them. A financialmeans to launder huge amounts of other people's money at the animal's expense.

And we are fool enough to allow this long outdated evil political practice to continue on.

British governments are using monies they have stolen and are stealing from the British Equus Zone of horseracing every day, left on going over decades.

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

THE LIFE AND TIMES of Desmond (Des) Cullen pioneering top professional global lightweight jockey horseman of the highest calibre with a true empathy with every racehorse he partnered.

IN THE BEGINNING

I was born in Dublin in 1940 and started work in 1954 when I was 14 years old.

I was working as a messenger boy in Dublin, delivering carbon ribbons for typewriters, for customers. It was through that job that I met Mr McCarthy, who was a friend of licensed Irish Flat Turf Trainer Kevin Kerr, Clonee, County MeathIreland. It was Mr McCathy who introduced me to his friend the racehorse trainer Kevin Kerr. I soon started on apprenticed to Kevin Kerr where I learned to handle and ride racehorses in training. Mick Tully was put on to teach me to ride.

Following on from this my Mum wrote to three racehorse trainers in Newmarket, andin June 1956, my brother Peter and I travelled to England apprenticed toCaptain Cecil Boyd-Rochfort Freemason Lodge in Newmarket. where we lived and worked for the next six-months.

My life in (GB) started in 1956 when I came over to Newmarket apprenticed to Boyd-Rochford. I moved on to Royston and W Stephenson in December 1956. I also lived in Epsom for a short time.

A friend got me a job apprenticed to William StephensonRoyston Hertfordshire.

I moved there from Rochford's in December 1956.I had my first ride for

W Stephenson at Lincoln in 1957 aboard ANTHONY THE FIRST .

Ref: William Stephenson 1911 - 1988 Royston Hertfordshire

Mr William ('Willie') Stephenson, the only surviving Englishman ever to have saddled a winner of both the Derby and the Grand National, died on November 29 1988. He was 77.

His achievements in capturing the biggest prizes on the Flat and under National Hunt Rules are, nevertheless, over-shadowed by the deeds of the horse that must be judged by far his most popular and successful: Sir Ken, thrice Champion Hurdler between 1952 and 1954. Sir Ken very much illustrated a staple ingredient in Stephenson's success: an unerring eye for a likely young horse before anyone else.

Although Blushing Groom met with considerable success in racing, he became an even greater as a sire. He was sent to stand at studatGainesway Farmin Lexington, Kentucky, where he sired winners at major tracks in Europe, North America, Australia, Japan, and Hong Kong. Like his sire Red God, Blushing Groom had been a champion miler but many of his offspring are renowned for their stamina and have been able to win consistently at longer distances.[1]

In 1958 Desmond Cullen aged 18, rode his first winner Tudor Flash at Newmarket for Royston trainer Willie Stevenson.He completed his apprenticeship with Willie Stevenson in 1961 aged 21, the year he won the Northumberland Plate partnering Utrillo forBill O'Gorman. The first of many big handicap triumphs that were to follow on.

In 1971 the minimum handicap weight was raised from 7st to 7st 7lb's which was the beginning of the end forseveral established lightweight riders. The same year that Desmond Cullen aged 31 won the Cambridgeshire partnering King Midas for trainer, Derrick Candy, father of Henry, reaching a career best 45 winners that year..

"KING MIDAS FINDS IT ALL SO EASY

By Robert Glendinning

"KING MIDAS, the silver-grey three-year-old, ridden by Britain's top lightweight, DESMOND CULLEN, won Saturday's Irish Sweeps Cambridgeshire at Newmarket so convincinglythat for once this famous handicap turned out to be something of a bore.

"The tremendous cheer that greeted the racecourse commentator's first mention of his name suggested that this 10-1 chance was, in fact, the best-backed horse in the race.

"But as KING MIDAS surged into the lead fully two furlongs out and made the rest of the way home unchallenged, the only excitement generated was by the terrific battle for second and third places.

"ASTROCAN, the last Cambridge runner for Harvey Leader, the veteran Newmarket trainer who retires at the end of this season, produced a strong finishing burst to beat LONDESBOROUGH BOY by a short head for second place with the blinkered RICHBOY a head away fourth.

Backed at 40-1

"Leader, who has saddled three Cambridgeshire winners, was prevented by flu from attending on Saturday.

"KING MIIDAS, who was running for the executorsof the late Major H.P. Holt, is trained at Kingston Warren by Derrick Candy, who confessed that he had always regarded KING MIDAS as an ideal Cambridgeshire type and had backed him at 40-1 when the weights were published.

"Cullen had been engaged as KING MIDAS'S Cambridgeshire jockey before the colt won at York a month ago. KING MIDAS has also twice won over Newmarket's July course this season.

"The first seven to finish in Saturday's race all raced on the stands side and some of the best- fanciedrunners, including OUDA, RUGGED, CAINS, ARTHUR and HITESCA, were all drawn high.

The Sport of Kings:

"A word of congratulations was something that Desmond Cullen the freelance jockey who lives in Royston, was trying in his modest, unassuming way to escape after his outstanding success in winning The Cambridgeshire, on KING MIDAS, at Newmarket on Saturday.

"DESMOND, who stands only 4feet 9 inches tall and can ride at 7 stone 3 lbs, has had a remarkably successful season. His winning ride last Saturday notched him up to 42 wins for this season.

"DESMOND, who has been living in Royston for some years, served his apprenticeship at the "Willie"Stephenson stable in the town where he still "rides out"

"When DESMOND first entered the racing world he was so small and lightthat some eminent racing practitioners hesitated to let him ride even a pony let alone a racehorse.

"But DESMOND - my racing colleague writes more fully about him on another page - with grit and determination and enthusiasm has won his "spurs. ". He is now aged 30. " 1970.

Pic KING MIDAS romps home by three lengths in Saturday's Irish Sweeps Cambridgeshire at Newmarket. The three almost in line are (left to right) ASTROCAN, (second) LONDESBOROUGH BOY (third) and RICHBOY (fourth)

KING MIDASpartnerDESMOND CULLEN SCORE. EASY.

John Oaksey reports from Newmarket

(Equus Zone)

"The Rowley Mile's claim to be England's fairest racecourse took a heavy knock at Newmarket yesterday when the draw appeared to destroy thechances of about a third of the Cambridgeshire field. The race was won, with almost impertinent ease, by DES CULLEN on the late Major H,P,Holt's

KING MIDAS - DESMOND CULLEN TEAM (DEREK) CANDY

"Drawn No. 15, CULLEN was in the ideal position to make up his mind what course to steer - and wisely decided to stay on the stands side.

"The first seven to finish all raced there while some of the best fancied horses, including CALPERNIUS, ARTHUR, CAIUS, OUDA, RUGGED and HITESCA, were all drawn high and forced to pursue what turned out to be a hopeless lost cause.

"It is hard, not impossible, to believe that not oneof these horses was good enough to get in the first seven and, not for the first time, the race was ruined both as a test and as a spectacleby the excessive width of the straight mile.

Field splits

"As the field split, PIRATE GLEN went clear on the stands side group and CULLEN, with orders to hold up KING MIDAS as long as possible, found himself, with almost too clear a run.

"On the far side the top weightCALPERNIUS went straight into the lead and proceeded to run a cruelly gallant race, only giving up the unequal struggle under a furlong from home.

"And by that timeit was unequal , for the stands sides group had at least four lengths' advantageand CULLEN, throwing caution to the winds had allowed KING MIDAS to pull clear,

"As they met the hill RICHBOY second last year, came out of the pack looking as though he would stage a repeat performance. But he too tired in the last 100 yards and ASTROCAN (drawn 1) and LONDESBOROUGH BOY, (drawn 13) pounced to push him back to fourth ...

"One sadness"

"But KING MIDAS was home and half dry by that time, and the only sadness is that his owner Major Holt, who died in his 80's on June 1, was not here to see his handsome grey so confound the handicapper's calculations.

"Major Holt had been a long time patron of Derrick Candy's stable and together they won the Ascot Gold Cup a few years ago with PARBURY. Shortly after that the Major bought a RIBOT colt in America and later selling him profitably to Italy, asked Candy to buy him a yearling. The result was KING MIDAS who cost £9,000gns. "Of the badly drawn horses yesterday, apart from CALPURIUS, .....

﻿

dancing, prancing ready for action waiting steady

This photograph catches in an instant a racehorse and rider (Desmond Cullen)

completely at ease with each other. Something that all punters need to observe

before chancing hard earned cash for a bet.

Key vital the standard of horsemanship within a Trainers Team

2013 - 2014

THE WEEK AFTERTHE BREEDERSCUP2013 (USA), DESMOND went back into Basingstoke hospital.

Just before Christmas Day whilst still in Basingstoke hospital Des, suffering with a nasty flu virus, was moved from the Basingstoke hospital to Pemberley House Hospital Basingstoke.

THURSDAY JANUARY 9th 2014

I called in to see Desmond yesterday afternoon. I asked him what King Midas was like to ride, he replied "Like a christian" "Magic" .

"MARTIN DWYER yesterday acknowledged the prompt actions of Southwell's medical team that ensured he received immediate hospital attention following the fall in which hewas knocked out for six minutes last week.

"The Derby - winning jockey remembers nothing of the accident in which he wasunseated from Columbian Roulette when he suddenly jinked when holding a three-length lead in the final furlong of a mile handicap. The impact of the fall in which he hit his head left a split in his riding helmet.

"As he recuperated at home yesterday Dwyer admitted he had had a lucky escape and estimated he could be at least six weeks away from a returnto riding.

"I'm feeling better now but I still have the symptoms of concussion, so I am having dizzy spells and sickness, " he said.

"I sit up and look out of the window and all of a sudden the window will go on the ceiling. The room feels like it is going upside down, it's a bit like vertigo. The doctor has said it will not get any worse and will go eventually, but it could be a couple of weeks.

"I had to go back into hospital on Sunday when they did another scan and they were happy. There is no long term-damage. There is also a problem near the socket of my collarbone, like a crack, but it is something that will settle down in a few weeks. I think I got quite lucky really.

"Despite having lost all memory ofthe day, ardent Everton fan Dwyer's sense of humour remained intact..

"I don't remember anything. " he said "I remember leaving the house but I don't remember the race. I remember coming around in the hospital and I said to the doctor, "Are Liverpool top of the league? if they are can you knock me out again' .

"I have watched the replay. It's like watching somebody else. I don't recall the race. It looks like as soon as I hit the floor I am knocked out. When the horse changed direction at that speed I was just left in mid-air. I don't know why he did it. The helmet has done it's job as there is quite a big crackacross its back.

"I will have to have a concussion test and maybe a neurologytest before I'm allowed back to ride. It's going to be weeks rather than months, but it might be more than six weeks. They have done brain scans, there is no bleeding on the brain and no swelling. Other people have come off worse with a head injury like that. "

"Medical procedures have been tightening up since September when Hayley Turner found she had chipped a pelvisand broken three vertebraeonly after she had been discharged from hospital.

"There have been problems in the past where jockeys taken to casualty have been underestimated , " Dwyer said.

"They think you have fallen off a pony trotting around a field and it's not treated as an accident at speed.

"Although I don't remember it, the medical team on the course were great, " he said. "I had a CT scan within 15 minutes of getting to the hospital and less than an hour after the fall.

"The racecourse doctor travelled to the hospital with me and did a handover. She took the helmet with her, rang my wife direct and made sure I was treated as a serious accident victim. "

DESMOND
CULLEN

Wednesday January
15th 2014

EQUUS
ZONE

Desmond Cullen retired from his career in global horseracing in
the late 1970's A Top Professional Pioneer Horseman due to 10 bad
falls causing concussions that eventually lead to his early retirement after 20
years in the saddle. Desmond Cullen's brain, mindset still as sharp as it ever was , and still is, to this very day in theory if not in practice.

Desmond Cullen finds himself battling with prostate cancer over
a number of years now.

Now it has been confirmed that he has diabetes. How long he has
had diabetes is not known.

There can be nothing worse than feeling very
ill and at the same timebeing dumped
and left in a lurch such as this one. Likebeing dead before you are dead. A living hell. Desmond Cullan has a professionalhorsemen's mindset as good as it always was.
Desmond Cullen does not have dementia. A sad fact that 95 per cent of people
worldwide would not begin to understand
or to recognised.The concussions he
suffered have not destroyed that.But it
looks like the hospitals are well on the way to destroy even that.

J MARGARET CLARKE NEIGHBOUR OF
DESMOND CULLEN

A reminder to all these
various Doctors, Hospital, and Home personnel
from Desmond Cullen's friend and neighbour Margaret Clarke. Desmond Cullen's life belongs to him and to no one else. Whatever is to follow on
from Pemberely House has to be within his full knowledge and agreement,
with Desmond
Cullen's knowledge and full
approval, and no one else's.

CONCUSSION EXPLAINED AS PUBLISHED IN THE RACING
POST ON SATURDAY JANUARY 11th 2014

MARTIN DWYER EXPLAINES: LICENSED BRITISH
FLAT TURF JOCKEY

Racing Post Jon Lees writes

MARTIN DWYER yesterday
acknowledged the prompt actions of Southwell's medical team that ensured he
received immediate hospital attention following the fall in which he was
knocked out for six minutes last week.

"The
Derby - winning
jockey remembers nothing of the accident in which he wasunseated from Columbian Roulette when he
suddenly jinked when holding a three-length lead in the final furlong of a mile
handicap. The impact of the fall in which he hit his head left a split in his
riding helmet.

"As
he recuperated at home yesterday Dwyer admitted he had had a lucky escape and
estimated he could be at least six weeks away from a returnto riding.

"I'm
feeling better now but I still have the symptoms of concussion, so I am having
dizzy spells and sickness, " he said.

"I
sit upand look out of the window and
all of a sudden the window will go on the ceiling. The room feels like it is
going upside down, it's a bit like vertigo. The doctor has said it will not get
any worse and will go eventually, but itcould be a couple of weeks.

"I
had to go back into hospital on Sunday when they did another scan and they were
happy. There is no long term-damage. There is also a problem near the socket of
my collarbone, like a crack, but it is something that will settle down in a few
weeks. I think I got quite lucky really.

"Despite
having lost all memory ofthe day,
ardent Everton fan Dwyer's sense of humour remained intact. "I don't
remember anything. " he said"I remember leaving the house but I don't remember the race. I
remember coming around in the hospital and I said to the doctor, "Are
Liverpool top of the league? if they are can you knock me out again'

.

"I
have watched the replay. It's like watching somebody else. I don't recall the
race. It looks like as soon as I hit the floor I am knocked out. When the horse
changed direction at that speed I was just left in mid-air. I don't know why he
did it. The helmet has done it's job as there is quite a big crackacross its back.

"I
will have to have a concussion test and maybe a neurologytest before I'm allowed back to ride. It's
going to be weeks rather than months, but it might be more than six weeks. They
have done brain scans, there is no bleeding on the brain and no swelling. Other
people have come off worse with a head injury like that. "

"Medical
procedures have been tightening up since September when Hayley Turner found she
had chipped a pelvisand broken three
vertebraeonly after she had been
discharged from hospital.

"There
have been problems in the past where jockeys taken to casualty have been
underestimated , " Dwyer said.

"They
think you have fallen off a pony trotting around a field and it's not treated
as an accident at speed.

"Although
I don't remember it, the medical team on the course were great, " he said.
"I had a CT scan within 15 minutes of getting to the hospital and less than
an hour after the fall.

"The racecourse doctor
traveled to the hospital with me and did a handover. She took the helmet with
her, rang my wife direct and made sure I was treated as a serious accident
victim.